Today, I’m asking people to name which TV characters deserved a spinoff the most without ruining the original show.
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
Today, I’m curious what TV character you think most deserved a spinoff (or, if the show is still coming out, most DESERVES a spinoff) without actively ruining the show that the character would be spinning off from (for instance, no “Sam Malone spinoff from Cheers,” ya know?).
My pick would be the great Tim Reid as Downtown Brown on Simon & Simon. Reid actually left the show for his own sitcom, the amazingly unsung Frank’s Place, but I think his offbeat undercover cop character, Downtown Brown, could have easily sustained his own show and the show really didn’t NEED him that much, either, so it would have been a seamless transition.
That’s my pick. What’s yours?
Feel free to suggest future topics via e-mail at brian@popculturereferences.com!
LaForge. Never well used in TNG, could easily have been its Frasier.
I would have missed the dynamic between Data and LaForge, but I would have loved a Riker spinoff. It never made sense that he stayed first officer for so very long.
I’d vote for Kalinda Sharma from Goodwife.
You can always spinoff an investigator and after not getting along with the lead in real life… they wrote her out of the show, so the character wasn’t vital.
Still Kalinda was a great character and the actress did a nice job with the role.
Fitch and Hayes (Isaac Hayes and Louis Gossett Jr) from The Rockford Files.
Totally agree with your take on wanting a spinoff for characters like Daryl from “The Walking Dead”! I remember when they hinted at a standalone series for him—I was ready to binge-watch his survival skills and road adventures. It’s like, sometimes those side characters have so much depth that it feels wrong not to explore their stories more. It reminds me of how much I loved the dynamic between him and Carol; I’d watch them tackle new challenges Snow Rider 3D together any day! Who knew a zombie apocalypse could lead to such compelling storytelling?